Flow w/Fred – 8.7.14 (YFD – Prana)

Flow w/Fred – 8.7.14 (YFD – Prana)

When you step onto your mat, it presents an opportunity for you to connect with your mind and body in that present moment. There are no distractions. There is no judgment. There is no competition. The moment is capable of righting all wrongs, loving unconditionally and rejuvenating our relationship with ourselves. In our class last Thursday, we discussed prana (the energy in the atmosphere through oxygen-rich air). I am guilty of the draw that movies, hockey and social media can have on my interaction with the natural world. In moderation, these areas make my life fuller. When I allow these avenues of my life to consume my time, they lead me to a life starving of prana. In the present moment, there is the opportunity to become full. Last night I sat on my backyard swing during the drizzling rain. Even during the overcast days, there are opportunities to connect back with the world and increase your prana. Have a great one and thanks for reading!

Prana – I will feed my body and become full.

Prana (small p) refers to the energy in the atmosphere – oxygen-rich air. Modern yogis have become health conscious and more often live lives not of withdrawal but of community. We are more interested in positive mental health than in liberation. And so we take ourselves out to nature to be inspired and to breathe the prana-rich air.

Obviously, there is less prana available in the artificial atmosphere of an office building than in the broad sweep of the beach. If you are someone who lives in a high-rise, works in an office building, and commutes for long periods of time, your depression may be magnified by the reduction in atmospheric prana. How often do your feet actually touch the earth?

For most of us who use computers and cell phones and watch television, the environment in which we work and play can contribute not only to a disturbance in our bioenergetic field, but to a kind of prana starvation. We often don’t realize the extent to which our systems are deprived of prana. What we do, what we eat, what we breathe – is contributing to a rise in depression and hopelessness. (Particularly among young people.)

“We may not be able to move to the mountains or to the beach, but we can use our asanas, pranayama techniques and our community to enrich our prana.”